Remembering John Prine – “Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches”

And I always will remember these words my daddy said
He said, “Buddy, when you’re dead, you’re a dead pecker-head”
I hope to prove him wrong… that is, when I get to heaven
–John Prine, When I Get to Heaven

John Prine, from a 1997 performance on West Virginia Public Radio’s Mountain Stage.

I don’t really have time to write anything right now that isn’t moving the eighth edition of my textbook forward (Yes, my editors, I’m just taking a few minutes for this…) But I can’t let the death of singer/songwriter John Prine from COVID-19 pass without some sort of remembrance.

I saw John in concert once back when I was an undergraduate – likely in 1982.  He played the show with his great friend Steve Goodman. Both performed wonderfully funny songs along with songs that can make me weep even after listening to them for decades. (We lost Steve to a long battle with cancer back in 1984 – gone way too soon.)

(A couple of years ago I wrote a blog post about their songs about growing old – Steve Goodman singing “The Dutchman” and John Prine singing his song “Hello in There.” These are two songs I don’t think I can bear to right now, but go check them out if you don’t know them.  I’ll wait.)

Anyway, I’m not going to even try to sum up my feelings right now.  But here are several tributes to Prine, many of which include some great playlists. And then I’ll include a few of my own favorites.

There’s a lot of sentimentality going around right now, and I’m as guilty of it as anyone. But I put up the least sentimental quote from “When I Get to Heaven” from Prine’s final album because the thing that I always think about when it comes to John Prine is that there was always humor and joy to be found in just about everything.

Memories from the Mountain Stage live music radio show:

NPR’s Annie Zaleski has a great tribute and playlist for you:

And a fantastic playlist from Rolling Stone:

And here are just a few of my favorite John Prine songs.  Wouldn’t presume to put together a list of best ones, just a few that I know of a lot of the words to:

Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore

A great anti-war song that brings together Prine’s trademark combination of humor and seriousness

Dear Abby

Most of my readers here are likely too young to remember the newspaper advice columnist Dear Abby. This wonderfully silly song imagines what advice Dear Abby might have for a whole range of letter writers.

In Spite of Ourselves – With Iris DeMent

Probably my favorite John Prine song, and likely the best song about marriage ever written. (And I love Iris DeMent, who sings this great duet with John.)

John Prine and Steve Goodman singing “Souvenirs” together

And finally, a recent NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert from John:

As you go about your day, trying to stay away from the COVID-19 that claimed John Prine, you might think about the only-somewhat tongue-in-cheek advice he gave to find happiness in his song Spanish Pipedream:

Blow up your t.v. throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try and find Jesus on your own
–John Prine – Spanish Pipedream